But throughout all of the turmoil and harsh criticisms, it was Writer Scott Snyder (AMERICAN VAMPIRE) and Artist Greg Capullo (SPAWN) who appeared to churn out a consistent amount of quality with their New 52 run on, let’s face it, DC’s flagship hero: Batman.Īm I biased due to being a Batman fan? Most definitely, but I feel the proof is in the pudding as Snyder and Capullo were one of the very few creative teams that maintained their staying power with their chosen character throughout the entirety of the New 52. Creative decisions like dissolving Superman’s marriage to Lois Lane in order to give him an out-of-nowhere relationship with Wonder Woman, Barbara Gordon being un-paralyzed and becoming Batgirl again after establishing herself as a positive example for disabled heroes in her role as Oracle, the seemingly gratuitous over-sexualization of fan-favorite characters like Starfire and Harley Quinn and an overall darkening or gritty refocusing of the DC brand seemed to fiercely divide the fan base. At worst, the continuing series of retcon punches and off-model character motivations seemed to either drive away fans devoted to the previous longstanding continuity or confuse the hell out of the new readers. At best, it was a lukewarm endeavor that managed to wrangle some truly talented writers and artists onto books you never would have anticipated being made for brief periods of time.

I’d be lying if I said DC Comics’ 2011 campaign to revitalize their stable of characters with a clean-slate reboot dubbed the “New 52” was a rousing success.

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